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PINK DIAMOND Q & A WITH JOHN CALLEIJA

Find out all the information you have always wanted to know about Argyle Pink Diamonds – the rarest and most coveted diamonds in the world. John Calleija sits down for a chat about his one of his great passions and by far one of his favorite topics – Pink Diamonds.

Q. How does an Argyle Pink compare as an investment against other Pink Diamonds?

A. (John Calleija) All Pink Diamonds are a good investment however Argyle produces around 90% of the world’s pink diamond supply so they have a great International brand presence. They are also from a certifiable source with intense and vibrant colours that are not usual in other mines. Knowing the origin of your Pink Diamond source is an important factor to ensure its quality, beauty and rarity. By purchasing Argyle you can be assured that their diamonds have never been used to fund conflict, and that all companies involved in its production chain employ fair trade practices and meet and even exceed international environmental standards.

Q. What sort of return on Investment have pink diamonds shown to date? What is expected from them in the next 5- 10 years?

A. (John Calleija) Argyle Pink Diamonds have been producing anywhere from 10 – 30% return on investment depending on their size, however this will significantly increase quite dramatically over the next 10 years when the mine has depleted their resources – it is then when we can expect that prices will skyrocket. Pink Diamonds were probably the only investment that was not affected by the Global Financial Crisis.

Q. If purchased as an investment how does one who isn’t in the trade realise a profit?

A. (John Calleija) International Auctions are a great avenue to realise a profit and they are also a helpful indicator of current market prices. Every Argyle Pink Diamond Tender takes place annually so your diamond can also be re-assessed for valuation and sometimes offered up for resale at the original place of purchase.

Q. How do they perform against other equity indices? 

A. (John Calleija) Tender prices for Argyle Pink Diamonds have consistently outperformed some of the major equity indices including the S & P 500, Hang Seng and the Dow Jones Total Industrial.

Q. Why are Pink Diamonds so valuable?

A. (John Calleija) Very simply for two reasons – Rarity & Beauty! Argyle Diamonds command extremely high prices because of every 20 million carats of rough diamonds that are produced annually, less than 0.1% are Pink Diamonds. A whole year’s worth of Pink Diamond production over the half a carat size would fit into the palm of your hand so with every year that passes this production slowly decreases and they become even more precious.

Q. What is the most expensive diamond ever sold from Argyle?

A. (John Calleija) To be honest I don’t know about Argyle, however in 2009 Calleija sold an exceptional 1.74 carat Red Diamond and the price tag was upwards of $4.5 million Australian dollars. Also in October 2009 in the US a collector paid US $10,776,660 for a five carat Fancy Vivid Pink Diamond which set two world auction record prices; one for the price per carat of the Diamond at US $2.1 million and secondly for a Pink Diamond of that size.

Q. How long does it take to polish an Argyle Tender Diamond?

A. (John Calleija) An average Argyle Tender Diamond would take approximately a month from marking the cut to the final polish – however sometimes this process can be a lot longer.

Q. What is the exact scale of the Argyle mine pit currently? 

A. (John Calleija) The old open cut mine is around 2 km long and 1 km wide and covers an area of almost 300 hectares however the new underground block caving section of the mine is not yet completed but will require more than 40 kilometers of tunnelling and be 250 meters underground. This area is expected to be fully operational in 2013 and the project should extend the life of the mine hopefully to 2019.